Discotheque Exotique ( Lets see yer exotica vinyl! )

So given the discussion of Gene Rains, and some fine images of vinyl lp covers in Tiki Finds. I was thinking for the edification of the collector of Exotica Vinyl that those of you with the ability to scan lp covers, or take and post digital photos should have a thread to exhibit these fine sonic gateways to times past.

And it would help the begining collector to know what to keep his eyes open for.

I just had a major find, but am scanner/camera-less at the moment.

But I am happy I found the Gene Rains "Far across the sea" lp for $3.00

I think both traditional and "exotica" ala Denny should be represented. With no trash talking between the fans of the two genres. Heck surf could even worm its way into this.

So whos up first? Elucidate mate!
TG

Ok, heres some in the Gardener Collection.
I'll add track listings and descriptions as I have time. The images aren't the greatest, as the digital camera I borrowed from work is only 2 megapixels...

Lee Adeo "Paradise Regained"
Which has a cool heavy cardboard cover with a pineapple shaped cutout revealing a glimpse of the inner sleeve.

The inner sleeve...

"A Bunch of Bongos"
Not Polynesian, but actually a pretty good "bongo" record. Better recorder than most of this genre.

Back cover.

Good ole Less!

Back cover.

Whats wrong with this label???

Mills Brothers Great Hawaiian Hits.
Ok, notice the tiki that has traveled from the Forbidden Island? Apparently he wasn't forbidden to leave...

The working mans Les Paul.

I need a better camera to do this one justice.

Back cover.

Your band. But I want to know why in the hell the last song on the album is 76 TROMBONES!?!

A recent acquisition.

Detail from back cover.

Unfortunately they feature the accordian in nearly every song!

Nowhere as good as Mr Denny's, but still pretty cool.

THAT album...

More bachelor pad as I remember. But it does have Miserlou and Caravan on it.

My personal fave.

Back cover.

A close up of what appears to be a Track listing card inserted into the shrink wrap. I'm not removing the wrap to find out!

Traditional style, well recorded.

Close up of cover detail.

Not tropical, not space age, but a some mellow jazz inspired by the show that had some great footage of the war in the Pacific. Actually plays well with Mr Denny and that style of Exotica. And what a cool cover. I don't think the jet pictured was in service for more than a few years.

Rear cover.

[ Edited by: TikiGardener on 2004-04-09 00:41 ]

Scott, do you mean like THIS:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=7878&forum=1&76

This is actually the (very recent) thread that inspired the Gene Rains post...

Indeed, I lost track of that one.

But It would be cool to do a front cover and back cover shot with track listings.

TG

this is a great collector's guide idea for a book ...made just to shed light on exotic sounds...it'd sell...and it'd boost prices too...

My fav.

Hey Swanky,
Whats the track listing? And maybe a quick blurb on style, recording quality etc?

I've never seen that one.
TG

It's Hapa Haole music, with vocals!

It's an EP with many standards like "Hawaiian Hospitality","The Hukilau Song","Mai Poina","Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai","Yellow Ginger Lei","Blue Lei"

That's what I recall off the top of my head.

It's got a great female vocal by a gal who I can find nothing on. Well, actually, it lists her by a single name and there are too many people out there with that name to know who she is!

I chose a couple off this record for the music on the Hukilau site.

There are (well, in my experience) too few records with vocals, and of those, many are not that great. It's as though after Alfred Apaka, everyone gave up. Haunani sounds like a man. Other men sound like women. It's just really rare to find a record with all the songs sung and all great. This is it. There are a few others I have found, but very few.

Swanky,

I LOVE those guys, ever since I heard your recordings on the Hukilau site. Very cool record cover too.

Bump, i got a crappy camera to add some images...

I mostly collect for the covers. I probably haven't even listened to half of these!

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2004-04-09 08:46 ]

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2004-04-09 08:46 ]

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2004-04-09 08:52 ]

Then theres THIS one I WISH I could listen to - Les Baxter with Theremin to boot!But they are 78 RPM so I cannot listen to the exotic pleasures within the folds of this mysterious cover...

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2004-04-09 08:55 ]

And this one is just plain funny. LIMBO PARTY!!!

Music Out of the Moon was paired with Music For Peace of Mind and released on 12" LP also. I'm not a huge fan of those releases, but they are interesting for the time period.

FYI: I believe those two sets were the first uses of a color photograph on a music release.

damn, i need to advance myself with tech matters. i certainly could fill entire data bases with some of my records cover images. but it is nice to see a few that i don't have or have never seen.

[ Edited by: sillisculpt on 2004-04-09 09:40 ]

wow, this post is amazing! I like the albumcovers very much, i don't have any to show you, but people who do are most welcome to do so.!

Bye

here are a few new records i scored this last week...one of them is a signed martin denny disc...to me a real find but i suppose to many in this loco world...it's meaningless...all the better for me!

i recently was lucky enough to win a gene rains record online and MAN was i happy to hear it...there is another, LOTUS LAND - on it's way to me that i won since hearing the first one and if anyone is interested in owning a copy of it that is a legitimate excuse for me to go BACK to the record store and rifle the exotica section once more...i left so many behind...i know that a copy is there as i flipped past it when i found this bunch...now i need to know how many records mr gene rains has published...

when i get my RCA/USB converter this week i'll make some mp3s for y'all...such great mellow tunes!

I just got Lotus Land myself, cool tunes.

Koochie,
Hey great collections there. I just found the "evening at the Royal Tahitian" LP too. It isn't half bad. There isn't much about the Royal Tahitian on the record. Does anyone know where this is at?
Mark

Some great-looking covers there! The Royal Tahitian cover is incredible! If the music is only half as good as the cover it'll still be amazing.

Trader Woody

the royal tahitians record is fantastic...just like the cover suggests...as soon as i can encode and share it i will do so!

I have the Royal Tahitian LP digitized. I can post it if you like. The only thing I don't have is the software the removes the pops and clicks, so it is a "straight from vinyl" transfer. Still sounds good.

actually the vocal half of that record leaves me flat...it sounds like frat kid doing karaoke for his brothers...but the instrumental side is AAAAAAALL good! i really don't see how the 2 are on the same record...

i'd love to have that LP digitized but what i would REALLY like is my damn audio conversion device...i love how a company can process an order but not not deliver a product because it's not in the warehouse...total BS!

call me crazy but the latest thing i can't stop playing on my turntable is an girl maori college choir...the voice is an unparallelled instrument indeed...choirs are like glee clubs...they have the capacity to SUCK! but this is a great sound...when i can encode i'll post a track or two for you guys to hear...it's really unique! i can't understand a word but that only makes it more mysterious and lovable!

Hey Kooch, nice covers...
Is the Royal Tahitian the hotel in Tahiti ?? Or just a bar with the same name ??

Hey folks, I'm back on line (had to buy an external modem) and just in time, it seems!

My my, oh fellow Book of Tiki scholars, 'tis the Royal Tahitian on Riverside Drive in Ontario off course, just look at the sign on page 251 of the book.
A most excellent find, I love finding low budget house band records from the gift shops of extinct Tiki temples!
The R.T. used to have a basement club, and the MC there (whose name escapes me) was an actor who got known playing bit parts as a native in Hollywood movies..must have his name somewhere in my files at home...
Can't read the names on the cover, what do they say?

And Miles, regarding the Augie Goupil record with Thurston Knudson:
T.H. was a totally wacky bongo player who used to have speaking engagements on "primitve" rythms in the atomic age, I will quote from his brochure in my next book:

Mr. Knudson offers a short course of six master lessons in "COMPULSIVE RYTHM", surveying the whole field, to impart the dynamic "feeling" of rythm as a source of inspiration in music or dance composition. In his demonstration lecture Mr. Knudson plays movement-compelling rythms upon his set of six hand-drums, illustrating those "wave-patterns" which are in common use around the world... CRAZY, MAN!

Miss Martha B. Deane, Director of the women's gymnasium of the Department of physical education for women, University of California wrote this in her thank you letter:
Dear Mr. Knudson,
Thank you very much for the excellent report which you left for me....several people who were present at the final demonstration have spoken to me with enthusiasm of the work. It is without question the most interesting theory I have come across, and we are delighted you could present it to our students...

Wonder what "waves" Martha and her enthusiastic PE students felt...

This isn't all of my exotica vinyl, just some recent scores ALL for less than 50 cents (canadian no less!)
I didn't know if I should put it in the thrift store thread in collecting tiki, but I figured since it was all vinyl it should go here woo oo!

I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all outta gum..

[ Edited by: Velvet Ruby on 2004-07-17 19:36 ]

On 2004-07-17 19:34, Velvet Ruby wrote:
This isn't all of my exotica vinyl

Nor is it all exotica :)

...but maybe, to the younger set, vinyl is so uncommon that it is "exotic"?

um no.

I've been collecting vinyl for about 7 years, and yes I'm aware the only "exotica" album is the les baxter one.
Other people in the thread were sharing non exotica album covers, so I assumed it was ok that I did too.
I said at the beginning of the post that I had thought about putting them in another thread, but hadn't as they all were records and I thought they would fit in here. Sorry! :) I'll try and be more accurate next time.

pitifully small as I have been a university student for the last 5 years and can't afford to pay more than $5 an album..
I didn't include the plethora of run of the mill "Hawaiian" albums I have for accuracy's sake :wink:

"An Evening At The Royal Tahitian"
Ok, so here it is finally, a memento for those of you who are avid collectors of long gone Tiki watering holes! This is the Royal Tahitian LP we've been talking about recently. The LP appears to be produced by the RT itself. Featuring a very slow version of "Quiet Village"

CHECK IT OUT - but hurry, this will only be up for a short time!
http://www.gearconcepts.com/rt

Mahalo, kind sir.

On 2004-07-19 16:32, mriddle wrote:
a memento for those of you who are avid collectors of long gone Tiki watering holes!

Not THAT long gone, at least the building! Was it Poly Pop who posted photos of the A-frame when it was to be torn down? Somebody dig up that thread. There were the nice details of the saw cut moais and such.

Great backcover. I have a souvenir menu (B&W/postcard size) with that photo of the girl leaning against the sign in the lower left of the album, but the posts from the sign are cut off at the edges of the paper! Good to see it full size, you will recognize the same Rosenkrantz Tikis in the photo and the matchbook in the BOT. I have seen only ONE post card from it so far, and it is not very good, but shows an interesting stage painting. I bet Sabu has one of those...can you post it, oh jungle boy?

The LP appears to be produced by the RT itself.

...I think I remember now, the MC was kown as "Hawaiian Abe"

Featuring a very slow version of "Quiet Village"

Great! This is "VERY Quiet Village", or better yet "Sleepy Village", only in the middle it becomes "Slowly Awakening Village".

Does anyone know the year that Webley Edwars' "EXOTIC INSTRUMENTALS" was released? I cant' find a year on the record jacket or label anywhere!!

DigiTIKI

Last weekend's finds while out of town

(back view)

from the new york establishment..

I thought this was cool.. Michener fan that I am.. (outside cover)


(inner sleeve)

and these were two I rescued from the freebie bin, they are without their albums, but are fun for their covers..

killing threads with every post..

[ Edited by: Velvet Ruby on 2004-08-04 00:24 ]

According to the liner notes: "Here's A Full Album Of The New Exotic Sounds"

Velvet Ruby,
That Johnny Coco record is a favorite of mine. Love that King Kamehameha Bossa Nova.

Lopaka

cool s*it, maynard!

On 2004-08-07 21:36, Selector Lopaka wrote:
Velvet Ruby,
That Johnny Coco record is a favorite of mine. Love that King Kamehameha Bossa Nova.

Lopaka

It's great! I have to confess I've only been listening to the first side so far, I'm hooked on their version of Adventures in Paradise... I'll have to go giver a flip :)

Here's a few more:

Hawaiiana
(Does anyone know the nationality of The Kontiki's? I have a feeling they may be German!

My Martin Denny stuff.

Assorted Exotica/weird vinyl.

Trader Woody

Here are several of the the favorites from my collection....

These first two feature bathing beauties, drinking that most exotic drink -- beer (and the first one uses it down to wash down an exotic white bread sandwich)

Vern

A lot of beautiful albums here. I am on the look-out for hi-res scans of Exotica covers. There are some really good galleries on the net,like Tiki-Tim's and Vegas Vic's.
Any other I should now about?